1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information communication systems and, more particularly, to a human-computer interface system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many psychologists believe there are eight main classifications of emotions, also called basic emotions. These basic emotions consist of trust, anger, disgust, fear, happiness/joy, sadness, surprise, and anticipation. Happiness is a human reaction to the positive, as disgust is to the revolting, and surprise is to the unexpected. Similarly, humans react to aversion through anger, to danger through fear, and to difficulty or loss through sadness.
All other emotions are variations of one or more basic emotions. For example, depression and grief are varieties of sadness. Pleasure is a variety of happiness, and horror is a variety of fear. According to psychological experts, secondary emotions form by combining varying degrees of basic emotions. Thus, surprise and sadness produce disappointment, while disgust and anger produce contempt. In addition, multiple emotions can produce a single emotion. For example, anger, love, and fear produce jealousy.
Each emotion is characterized by physiological and behavioral qualities, which include, but are not limited to, movement, posture, voice, facial expression, and pulse rate fluctuation. Fear is characterized by trembling and tightening of the muscles. Sadness tightens the throat and relaxes the limbs. Surprise is characterized by gaping eyes and a dropped jaw, which only lasts a moment and is most often succeeded by another type of emotion.
People have become very familiar and comfortable with exchanging both information and emotions in regular interaction with other people. Furthermore, people's interaction with pets is based mostly on emotions with little information flow, but is still considered natural and induces positive feelings. On the other hand, the emotion-less nature of interaction with machines makes it more difficult to establish communication, understand and accept the informational stream, and enjoy the process.
To address the above-identified problem, applicant's proposed solution creates an emotional engine for machines that are computerized and have a human-machine interface. This emotional engine enriches the process of the machine communicating with people, fulfilling their natural expectation of the emotional stream complementing information. In this fashion, people will find it easier to understand, accept and like the machine. Ultimately, this may lead to accelerated acceptance and faster penetration of new technologies, with positive impact on people's balance of intellect and emotions.
The prior art teaches various information communication systems, and more particularly image, visualization, pattern, document, and speech recognition and verification systems and methodologies. However, the prior art fails to teach a system for emotionally enriching man-computer communication/interaction in the manner disclosed and taught by the present application.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a human-computer interface system adapted and configured for emotionally enriching the process of man-machine communication, thereby fulfilling man's natural expectation of the emotional stream complementing information in a manner which is quick, easy, and efficient. The development of human-computer interface system fulfills this need.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related:    U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,454, issued in the name of Kawamoto et al.;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,735, issued in the name of Gerace;    U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,457 B2, issued in the name of Petrushin;    U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,529 B2, issued in the name of Weider et al.;    U.S. Patent Application no. 2009/0063154 A1, published in the name of Gusikhin et al.; and    U.S. Patent Application no. 2011/0191273 A1, published in the name of Grabarnik et al.
Consequently, a need has been felt for a man-machine interface system adapted and configured for emotionally enriching the process of man-machine communication/interaction.
This application presents claims and embodiments that fulfill a need or needs not yet satisfied by the devices, inventions and methods previously or presently available. In particular, the claims and embodiments disclosed herein describe a human-computer interface system, the system comprising a computer hardware environment which includes a central processing unit, a number of other units interconnected via a system hub, Random Access Memory, Read Only Memory, an input/output adapter for connecting peripheral devices, user interface devices, a communication interface adapter, communication network, server, network repository; an encryption algorithm; sensors or detectors; one or more biometric detectors; output converters; sensor drivers; software modules; expression classification algorithm; a learning database; an update algorithm; a network synchronization algorithm; and a means by which a machine develops and expresses its own emotional states, and which allows the machine to communicate and/or interact with user in an emotionally-expressed manner, the system of the present invention providing unanticipated and nonobvious combination of features distinguished from the devices, inventions and methods preexisting in the art. The applicant is unaware of any device, method, disclosure or reference that discloses the features of the claims and embodiments disclosed herein.